After a serious injury landed me in the hospital, I got interested in medical art...

Always lemons into lemonade is on my menu :) Really it was the pharmaceutical advertising art you see in all the medical journals.The movie TRON had just opened - the first film to use computer graphics extensively.

I combined the TRON look with old master drawings.... Still using the airbrush (PhotoShop was yet to be) I came up with a transparent,futuristic style that suited medical art to a T!My first illlustration flyer brought in a ton of work. Advil ads, Prozac ads, high-tech anything ads became my caviar and champagne.Medical advertising pays nicely. I did covers for Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Omni etc.Are you asking WHO IS THIS PERSON? I've no idea and if I had to pickupan airbrushnow I'd be a goner. I did this for almost 10 years.Hillary Clinton came along with her cutbacks on pharmaceutical wastage-among them, ads that ended up in the circular file i.e. the wastepaper basket i.e. what I was producingAnd my very lucrative medical illustration business went down the drain. Around then I volunteered for the James Beard House.And a new career evolved that still kept me in champagne and caviar.From there I went on to wine art, but that's another Wednesday story.

23 comments:

THIS WOMAN'S TALENTS ARE ENDLESS. Have you ever been anything ordinary like say a Dustbin Man or as you Americans say Garbage Collector.These airbursh pieces are stunning. I once commisioned an airbrush painting in the 50s style and I still have it.

OMG and I asked if you had been in any other magazine's other then Victoria...how about ON any covers too??! ;-)What an inspiration in moving on in life and making lemons into lemonade. You dont even miss a beat. ;-) A book on your Art life would be a fun read. ;-)Cris in OR

WOW! I love this about you, inventive, a great eye for detail, you move with the groove and come up with amazing ideas! What a gift you have Carol, you never stand still and are able to make art wherever you go!Thank you for being such an inspiration.I am certain you have many more tricks, talents and stories up your painting smock sleeve!

ANOTHER OMG.. To Nathalie on the Victoria Magazine coming back. That was my FAVORITE magazine and I was so upset when it just ended with no announcement of any kind. Oh Yes indeed.. Paris Breakfasts would be perfect in a Paris issue... If they come back as they were.

Now, that's one career we hadn't heard about before, Carol. Interesting!! I admit, I wouldn't have envisioned you doing that! I'm a definite believer in 2nd, 3rd, even 4th careers, so you're a woman after my own heart...by the age I know I at least am, I've had several "lives." Good for you!

I was thrilled to see that Victoria is coming back later this year--I hope it will be of the same caliber as the original...I loved that magazine. Great post!

One day, just after throwing all her medical art into the bin, Carol went shopping through New York, searching desperately for French "choux à la crème" (as macarons were not known there yet!), Carol saw French César (Baldaccini) and suddenly knew "where to go"! She ran home, took her waste paper basket and happily tossed its content on the kitchen table... and there started a new art life in ...press art!

When Carol took her bin bags down that night... she saw the bin truck turning off her street... She ran as fast as she could... When she reached the turn, one of the guys saw her and kindly took her bags. Carol was very thankful and drew a "medical dustbin man" on his overalls... and there started Carol's new art life ... very soon all dustbin men of New york wore colourful overalls... quite a change in the town!!!